Fuilares Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series Review

Klonoa is a platformer series that was released between 1997 and 2002. The main character is a cat-rabbit hybrid named Klonoa, who is a dream traveler. Throughout our adventure, we’ll journey through two worlds - Phantomile and Lunatea. In my opinion, the original games are outstanding and remain my favorites to this day. The gameplay is balanced yet slightly challenging, and the music in both titles is top-tier. But how do the remasters hold up? As the name suggests, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is a remastered collection of the two main games in the series. The first game, Door to Phantomile, originally released on PlayStation, was remastered in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii - and this remaster is based on that version (remasterception xD). As for the second game, Lunatea’s Veil, it’s more or less a straight port from the PlayStation 2. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile Let’s start with the first game, as I have the most to say about it. In terms of gameplay, it’s great and never boring, thanks to the steady introduction of new mechanics. The remastered version adds difficulty settings, making it accessible for everyone. Character responsiveness has been improved - Klonoa no longer slides around on platforms (as he tended in the PS1 version). Controls are intuitive and responsive - aside from jumping, you can shoot, and that’s it. No overcomplication here. The music hasn’t been remastered - but it didn’t need to be. It was already high quality. The compositions are phenomenal and fit perfectly with the mood and surroundings. The story is simple but ends with a surprisingly emotional plot twist that flips everything on its head. Unfortunately, this remaster isn’t perfect. The cutscenes were handled badly - many of them are actually worse animated than those from 1997! I also encountered a bug where the music looped incorrectly during a fairly important cutscene, ruining the atmosphere. The audio is also inconsistent - it jumps between heavily compressed voices from PlayStation and higher-quality Wii assets. Instead of sticking to one version (and honestly, I think the PS1 voices, though compressed, had more emotion), the developers awkwardly mixed them, which even casual players are likely to notice. Still, despite those problems, I’d say it’s overall a positive experience. Most new players won’t even notice these issues. You could say much of this is just nostalgic rambling on my part, but for longtime fans of the series, these quirks might be a bit disappointing, and it’s worth keeping them in mind. Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil The second game is more of a polished expansion of the first. Compared to the PS2 original, this version is a solid improvement – updated visuals, added difficulty settings, some fixed sequences, and, finally, the ability to play the game properly on PC without emulation. So, how does Klonoa 2 play? Simply put, it’s "better and more." The core mechanics are the same – jump and shoot – but the range of objects and enemies has been greatly expanded. There are also new sequences where you surf on a board, which helps break up the gameplay and keep it from becoming monotonous. The story is more fleshed out than in the first game, with more memorable characters. In fact, if someone hasn’t played the first game or didn’t enjoy it, they can easily skip to Lunatea’s Veil. The plot isn’t tightly connected, except for some references near the end. The soundtrack is still fantastic, though personally, I preferred the music from the first game. SUMMARY So how do I rate these remasters overall? Even though the first game feels a bit like it was added “last minute,” both are still excellent titles I can confidently recommend to anyone. The music is phenomenal, the gameplay has aged very well, the stories are enjoyable without being too complex, and the art style is charming. The games aren’t particularly long, but I don’t see that as a drawback - the first game takes around 4-5 hours to complete, and the second one slightly more. Technically, the collection performs well - no FPS drops, fast loading times, and no major bugs that I encountered. Ironically, despite all the nitpicks, the thing that bothers me the most... is the lack of a Polish language. Personally, it doesn’t matter to me, but its absence might make the game inaccessible for younger players. P.S. If you’re buying the game for co-op, skip it. All the second player can do is boost your jump every few seconds.